Buildings
Buildings allow your villagers to: *'Huts' - Go to sleep or make a new baby (a.k.a. "Calling the Stork" - because Stork Feathers are the required resource used) *'Kitchen' - Get some food (the Kitchen is provided for you when you first land on the Island) *'Science Station' - Research science *'Storehouses' - Collect more resources *'Shipyard' and The Great Ark - Or even sail off the Island *'Recycling Depot' - Get rid all of useless items *'Wonders' - Give additional benefits. Except for huts, you can build only one building of each kind on an island. For more information on performing these Tasks and on associated Events, see the Tasks and Events pages. Huts There are three different types of huts: grass, leaf and straw (and each comes in two varieties: left-facing and right-facing). All huts do the same thing, allow villagers to sleep and the difference is merely decorative. A hut is also required for Tribe members to make a new baby (a.k.a. "Calling the Stork"). (See also the section on Calling the Stork on the Events page). Each hut you build (regardless of type) will give you 2 XP. You do not need a separate hut for every tribe member; generally 5 or 6 huts are sufficient for a tribe of 30 adults (children do not use huts). Grass Hut So this is the cheapest. Leaf Hut Straw Hut Storehouses There are also three different types of Storehouses. Without storehouses, your tribe can only store 100 wood, 100 rock and 100 food. Building and upgrading storehouses will allow additional storage of the materials, which is required, in some cases, for advancement. Food Storehouse Rock Storehouse Wood Storehouse Science Station This allows your tribesmen to research and gain Science Points that go towards further developing the tribe. This can also be upgraded to allow further storage of Science Points. Shipyard The shipyard is required so that you can begin construction on the Great Ark. The Shipyard can be placed either on sand or grass. Note: once you start building the Great Ark, you don't need the shipyard anymore. So you can demolish it, even if the Ark is not finished. The Great Ark The Great Ark, once built, allows your tribe to sail to another Island. The Ark can be placed anywhere. Recycling Depot This allow you to recycle your unused items for Recycle Points to earn you additional rewards! This can also be upgraded. You can't recycle the clothes worn by a tribesperson, but you can recycle decorations placed on the island. Recycle points Recycle points can be redeemed for chests (or even silver barrels, if you have 3 raw silks). Recycle points (like science points) are shared between islands, if you have multiple islands. The rarer an item is, the more recycle points you get, when you recycle this item. When you recycle a dyed item or an item with a gem on it, the recycle points add up. E.g. recycling a common cloth (1 point) dyed with a scarce dye (8 points) and having a legendary gem (12 points) will give you 1+8+12=21 recycle points. When you hover your mouse over a cloth, a pop up hint will tell you what dye and what gem were used on it. Upgrades The higher the level, the less recycle points a reward costs (20 points per level for normal chests, and 40 points per level for silver chests). The higher the level, the more chances you will have to receive a lodestone. But, even at level 6, expect only a few lodestones (say 5) per 1,000 items recycled. The higher the level, the more time you will need to complete the upgrade (up to -- at level 7 -- 76 hours for a team of 4 builders with 100 physical strength and 20 building skills). As you can't use the recycling depot, while it is upgraded, plan accordingly ;) (*) For a team of 4 perfect builders (100 physical strength and at least 20 in building skill.) The actual time may be less (put the whole tribe on build and leave the island) or more. (**) Raw silk is found in crates, or barrels, but it is very rare (expect 1 raw silk every 5,000 crates.) You can buy it too at the pearl shop, but it is very expensive (25 pearls). Dyed silk will not work. Note: If you have multiple islands,it makes sense to build one recycling depot on each island, as recycle points are shared. But only upgrade depots on islands, you will stay on permanently, as you will have to rebuild the depot on each new island and the upgrade requirements are steep. How tiny is tiny? Recycling 10,000 single suspenders into different levels recycling depot (March 2011, v0.1.120 of the game) gave the following results: Wonders Wonders were introduced on March 1, 2010 (v0.1.118), and require Masonry (basic, Level 2, and Level 3 were introduced under Sciences). Details of each of the various wonders can be located on the Wonders page.